Most of the Orthodox Christians in Moldova celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar, on January 7. “Christmas for the Moldovans is the nicest family holiday when we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. The children who were obedient and did well at school receive presents and go caroling, while the mothers prepare tasty festive food,” folklorist Nicolae Baiesu told Info-Prim Neo. “The Christmas table is usually full of pork food, which symbolizes the wish to be affluent. It includes roast pork, pork sausages, forcemeat cabbage rolls and meat jelly. The twisted Christmas bread rolls, pound cake, fruit, fish, candies and drinks are also indispensable on the Christmas table. The women also bake knot-shaped bread for the carolers who come to bless their households,” the folklorist said. According to Baiesu, going caroling is one of the most famous Christmas traditions. Groups of boys and girls younger than 15 go from house to house and sing carols. They wear small bags in which they put the gifts given by the owners of the houses where they caroled. The tradition says the carolers bring good luck and affluence into the owner’s house. “In the houses where there are young unmarried women, they bake knot-shaped bread for the young men who carol in the evening. If the woman has an admirer among the group of carolers, she gives the bread to him. The owner of the house gives the carolers money, feeds them and gives them to drink,” Baiesu said. Christmas is preceded by the Nativity Fast that lasts for six weeks – November 15 – December 24 for those who observe Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, and November 24 – January 7 for those who celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar. It is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. On January 7, Christmas is celebrated by the Orthodox Churches of Jerusalem, Russian, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and the Greek Old Calendarists who continue to use the Julian calendar for fixed dates.